Regional Difference Analysis of Farmers' Land Use Behavior

Based on the survey data and statistical information on farmers, we conduct comparative analysis of land use behavior of farmers in the Jianghan Plain and the hilly areas of Xianning City in Hubei Province. We find that the utilization rate of agricultural land and level of agricultural labor output in the plain areas are higher than in the hilly areas; at the same time, the degree of mechanization of agricultural land utilization and farmers' land use scale are larger in the plain areas. But the crop type in the plain areas is single, and the decline rate of the growing area of food crops is higher in recent twenty years; meanwhile, the material input costs and opportunity cost of labor for the agricultural land utilization in the plain areas are greater than in the hilly areas.